| accretion |
the process of gradual increase or growth, especially by additions from the outside. |
| apocryphal |
of dubious authorship or authority. |
| ascertain |
to learn without question; determine. |
| bellicose |
easily incited to quarrel or fight; belligerent. |
| disquisition |
a formal, often lengthy, oral or written discussion of a subject. |
| glean |
to gather or discover (facts, information, or the like) a little at a time. |
| ineluctable |
impossible to be avoided; inescapable. |
| insinuate |
to suggest (something derogatory) subtly and indirectly. |
| mésalliance |
marriage with someone of lower social standing than oneself. |
| pandemic |
a widespread outbreak of disease that afflicts many people over different continents. |
| panegyric |
a formal speech or piece of writing devoted to publicly praising a person or thing. |
| quadrant |
any of the four parts that result when an area is divided by two lines, real or imaginary, that intersect each other at right angles. |
| recurve |
to bend or curve back or backward, as the ends of certain shooting bows. |
| spurn |
to reject, refuse, or treat with scorn; disdain; despise. |
| supine |
lying with the face upward. |